Doom 3

"Doom 3 is One "Hell" of an Audition..."

Doom 3 took me five long days to complete. Unfortunately, this wasn't because the game itself was particularly difficult or lengthy, but rather because I had a really hard time staying interested in it... I played Doom 3 in my theater room with a Sharp XV-Z10000 DLP projector on a 123" Stewart Ultramatte 150 screen. I also had 5.1 channel surround sound going, of course, and I ran the game in Ultra Quality (16x AF, 4x AA) 1280x720 resolution with all effects on. The game was AMAZING visually and audibly. The graphics truly are the best, technically, to date. Far Cry comes very close overall, and I prefer that game's massive, open environments, but in the end Doom 3 is more of a showcase for real graphical genius. John Carmack is an incredible programmer, and it really shows (on a side note, Id's offices are about 13 miles away from where I live).

Anyway, if you're looking for a game to show off your theater system then look no further. The graphics will amaze, and the sound will vibrate the floor. However, if you are looking for a truly engaging game that holds your attention and absolutely grips you from beginning to end...Doom 3 does not fit that bill. Believe me, I understand as well as the next guy what Id was trying to do with this game. They wanted to bring back the nostalgia of the classic 1994 Doom, but with amazing advances in presentation technology. They succeeded in their goal. However, I feel that their goal was set too low. I'm not saying they didn't achieve everything they set out to achieve, I'm saying that what they achieved is less than adequate.

The game begins wonderfully. I was ready to sing its praises after three hours of playing. It begins with a pace similar to Half-Life (which is still the quintessential single player FPS in my opinion), but then hell breaks loose and the player is plunged into a nightmare world of darkness, shadows, evil sounds, and cruel demons. This was so great for a while, and I even thought the story was going to pick up and really become something effective.

Alas, this game is so repetitive that I frequently grew bored before I could even complete a level. I was forced to take numerous breaks in order to work up the desire to play again (I used up fifty hours of my projector's bulb life playing and then taking breaks to surf the net). By the time I got to Alpha Labs 2 I was thinking, "Please, don't let there be anymore Alpha Labs..." But there were two more levels of Alpha Labs waiting for me... Then, by the time I reached Delta Labs I had this AWFUL feeling I would be forced to go through three of four of those as well, and sure enough...I did. To make matters worse, none of these various labs, be they Alpha or Delta or whatever, really look that much different! Both Far Cry and Half-Life (and in some ways Halo and Painkiller) had far more visual distinction between the areas so that things never felt like the same old thing. Additionally, while Far Cry had one of the most generic plots and B-movie endings ever...it was more interesting than anything in Doom 3.

When I bought Doom 3, I would be lying if I said I wasn't expecting a Half-Life quality experience, but with even better graphics. Yet Half-Life, which is now six years old, had far more variety. The level design was more intriguing, the visual style was constantly changing, the weapons were better, what there was of an actual story was better (and I'm hoping Half-Life 2 will have much more storyline, and I believe it will), getting the help of security guards and scientists added variety, the A.I. was superior, and even the control was more fluid.

I spent a few days trying to defend Doom 3 because I like John Carmack and Id Software is practically close enough to my house to consider them a neighbor. Also, from an artistic standpoint, Doom 3 is mind blowing. The lighting, the use of shadows...everything that is visual and audible in this game is nothing short of brilliant. But that is very nearly all this game is good for. Once I read a movie review by Roger Ebert where he said a certain film had superb special effects and visuals and camera tricks and what not, but that it felt more like a demo reel of the director's work. Almost like the whole film had been just an "audition" so the director could get a real job. That's what Doom 3 feels like to me. An audition for a wonderful graphics engine. In the future it will be put to great use, but Doom 3 as a game...is dead in the water already.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 08/08/04